This document summarizes the author Sonal Baraiya's paper analyzing mythical patterns in Virginia Woolf's novel "To the Lighthouse". It discusses how Woolf knowingly used mythology, specifically comparing characters like Mrs. Ramsay to figures like Rhea and Demeter from Greek mythology. Mrs. Ramsay resembles Rhea as a good mother protecting her children, and resembles Demeter as a symbol of fruitfulness making sacrifices for others. The document also analyzes how the story reflects the myth of Oedipus and compares the novel to the German fairy tale "The Fisherman and His Wife". It concludes with differences between portrayals of women in pagan versus Christian myths.

1. Mythic patterns in ‘‘To the
Lighthouse’’
• Name: Sonal Baraiya
• Class: MA Sem-3
• Roll No.: 26
• Paper No.: 9- The Modernist Literature
• Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi,
Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University

2. ‘‘To the Lighthouse’’
-Virginia Woolf (1927)

3. What is Myth?
• A myth is a story handed
down through history, often
through oral tradition, that
explains or gives value to the
unknown.

4. Woolf’s concept
• Mrs. Ramsay and major female figures in
Pagan Myth
Zeus
Rhea
(mother)
Demeter
(wife)
Persephone
(daughter)

5. Woolf and critic
Two assertions
Knowingly
used myth
Subconscious
came out
• Woolf’s diary
• Read Jung, Freud,
and Frazer
• Known through the
members of the
Bloomsbury Group
• Third Position

6. Mrs. Ramsay resembles Rhea
Rhea Mrs. Ramsay

7. Myth of Rhea
• Wife of Cronos
• Has six children, three
boys and three girls
• Good and loving mother
• Youngest child- Zeus
• Opposes to his father-
Cronos and having
Oedipus complex
• Protected Zeus from
physical harm
Mrs. Ramsay
• Wife of Mr. Ramsay
• Has eight children, four
boys and four girls
• Good and loving mother
• Youngest child- James
• Opposes to his father-
Mr. Ramsay and having
Oedipus complex
• Protected James from
psychological wounds

8. Mrs. Ramsay resembles Demeter
Demeter Mrs. Ramsay

9. Demeter
• Symbols of
fruitfulness
• Opposed to
masculinity
• Known for sacrifices
and humbleness
• Characterized by
sorrow
• Relation with Kore
Mrs. Ramsay
• Mrs. Ramsay symbol of
fruitfulness
• Her complete femininity
• Sacrificed her own desire
and gave love and
sympathy
• Mrs. Ramsay’s sorrow is
neither so continuous
nor so specifically
focused
• Relationship between
Mrs. Ramsay and Lily

10. Oedipus Myth
• Sexual impulses toward mother
• Impulses of hatred and violence toward father
• James as Jocasta
• Jocasta- ‘‘What demon possessed him, her
youngest, her cherished?’’
• James- ‘‘Had there been an axe handy, or a
poker, any weapon that would have gashed a
hole in his father’s breast and killed him, there
and then, James would have seized it’’

11. ‘‘Fisherman and His Wife’’ and
‘‘To the lighthouse’’

12. • Greedy wife
• Insatiable demands is
not the wife but the
husband
• Cherishes needs of
other
• Sacrifices her own
desire
• Wounds on physical
body
• Result- Land became
desert
• Insatiable demands
• Craving sympathy and
love from Mrs. Ramsay
• Cherishes gift of love
• Sacrifices her own
desire and tried to fulfill
the desire of other
• Wounds on mental
body
• Result- House became
desert

13. Difference between Pagan Myth and
Christian Myth
• Mythical pattern – Women role in Pagan myth
is different from Christian myth.
• Pagan Myth- Women as a superior
• Christian Myth- Women as a inferior
• Pagan Myth- Having womb- powerful
• Aware about the lack
• Christian Myth not believed in lack

14. Works Cited
Blotner, Joseph L. "To the Lighthouse." Mythical
Pattern in to the lighthouse (1956): 547-562.

15. Thank You…